


Unravel

by TheTailor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dark Lance (Voltron), Evil Lance (Voltron), Heavy Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Saying anything else is spoiling tbh, Slow To Update, dark shit, i hope you all have your permission slips bc this is a fEELS TRIP-
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-10-09 05:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10404861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTailor/pseuds/TheTailor
Summary: Please think of me, the way I used to be, as who I really should be...Remember the me, the one I used to be-...Lance is slowly going mad. What will the team do when he snaps?Inspired by BriCie's cover of UnravelDISCONTINUED- ORPHAN WORK





	1. Prologue

Keith Kogane was in love with Lance McClain. Simple as that. He was in love with the way Lance shrieked with laughter. The way he automatically twisted his face in goofy expressions for pictures. The way his freckles seemed to be dusted on. The way he would spin his pencil when he was in thought. The way he always seemed to end belly-rumbling laughter with a breathy chuckle before actually ceasing it. The way Lance was always in a state of either hyperactive joyfulness or soft amusement. The way his eyes sparkled when talking about his enormous family on Earth. The way he went on and on about a children's game he was passionate about. The way he could pull off an easy smirk after telling a bad pun. The way he would finish nearly everything with finger guns. There wasn't anything that Keith didn't, in some way, love about Lance.

Lance McClain was in love with Keith Kogane. There was so much to love about the Red Paladin. Lance could name as many reasons he loved Keith as there were stars in the universe. He loved the way Keith wrote his two's. He loved the fact the teen stretched every morning after he woke up like a cat. He loved his long beautiful lashes. He loved the intense focus he had on trivial things like a board game. He loved the confused and innocent face Keith made when he told a joke he didn't get. Better yet, he loved the excited and happy face he made when he lit up after Lance explained the joke. There wasn't anything Lance didn't, in some way, love about Keith.

Though they had loved each other so, they had only gotten together not too long ago. They had been much more oblivious to each other's feelings for the other than they did noticing small traits and habits. Both of them had finally sucked up enough courage to tell their teammate at the same time. Which ended up with the Red and Blue Paladins stumbling out "no, you can go first," confessing over each other, and red faces. Even now when they had finally become official, they were still shy and awkward. Burning scarlet faces and thumping hearts after a quick peak on the cheek or hand holding. It was the type of bashfulness that left them grinning and blushing. A happy high.

Of course, they still had their duties as Paladins, which remained mostly unaffected by their new relationship status. They still saved planets and kicked Galra ass, only maybe running a bit more smoothly than before. 

It was a normal mission Lance supposed. Nothing new, they were just freeing prisoners from a jailhouse not unlike Beta Traz. It was an easy in and out, but nothing really goes like how it's supposed to. More complicated tech, guards, prisoners, and sour turnouts. Lance knew something was wrong when the darkly lit hallway was empty and eerie. He had seen enough movies and nothing good ever came from empty halls. As he helped guide the inmates to freedom, he saw her. A glimpse of the damned witch that had hit Shiro with her spooky magic. The group stopped, and a terrified murmur fell over them. It was no secret about the horrifying druid leader that walked into quiet rooms and left behind screams and broken pieces.

"The Blue Paladin..." Haggar croaked and mused, "how weak you are compared to the rest of your team."

Lance knew better than to let her drag on. He aimed his bayard and shot, ignoring the hurt he felt having the enemy confirm what he already thought to be true. What was worse was his shot had been in vain as it hit the wall where she once stood. After all, if Shiro couldn't do anything to her, what could Lance do? He did the only thing he was good for, turning tail.

"Run!" Lance shouted to the group. Pushing and shoving, they wasted no time and broke into a sprint. Lance followed behind to cover their asses. He could hear his heartbeat and blood rush in his ears. He could feel her sense behind him. Purebreed, undiluted warrior. Lance looked behind constantly. Like a jumpscare, she appeared down the hall from where he came. He shot three times and started running like his life depended on it. Because it was.

He hit the comm in his helmet, "Pidge get us out of here!"

Instead of receiving directions out of the prison and into his lion, he got a crackle and crashing. He could hear the telltale sounds of gunfire and knew he wouldn't be getting backup. He ran faster.

The Cuban teen skidded to avoid slamming into the wall as he rounded a corner. His chest was heaving, and he could feel the blood pumping through his veins. He could see Haggar's cape and cloak making its way toward him. He was running but couldn't seem to get to the end of the hall. _What was going on?_ He craned his neck behind him and found their chaser effortlessly gliding closer to him. The druid cackled seeing them struggle, and Lance realized she had placed a spell on the hall that they just rushed straight into.

In a vain attempt, he set loose more shots, but she sidestepped them with ease not even slowing her down. The witch pounced onto Lance. He briefly registered his bayard sliding away behind him too far to be reached. Her hand swiped down Lance's face and the cool and wet feeling told him he was indeed bleeding. On instinct, his arm swung out and his fist collided with her face. The noise she made sounded more like a pissed off wild animal than anything humanoid. Her nails stabbed his left shoulder, pinning him down. He gritted his teeth, as she punched him in the face, again and again, trying to break him. Lance spit blood into that proud face of hers. He stared straight into her dead eyes with such vigor it was clear enough for anyone to read.

_No matter what you do, I will prosper and flourish, because I won't fall to the likes of you._

Haggar shrilled as if it was a response. And Lance got the message clearly when her hand began to crackle with magic and energy. Lance gripped her arm, trying to force the devastatingly close electricity away from his face. Although, he felt awful right after he thought it, but he wished those _damned prisoners would get off their lazy asses and help him!_ Saying he was terrified was an understatement. He had poured all of his effort and power into getting the threatening hand anyway from him, but with a sudden and surge of strength, she slammed her palm into the boy. A horrifying scream of pain tore through his throat as she shocked him. Lance was gasping for air, trying to reach anything that could help him. His arms felt like lead and dead weight as he tried to move. Lance bit down hard on his lip to try and silence himself. He tried to think through the crippling pain that was coursing through his body. His hands went flying everywhere, trying to search for something, anything to help him. He felt something cool and sleek on his fingertips. The Blue Paladin made a mental note to thank his boyfriend for the knife he was gifted. In a panic, he grasped and fiddled with the hilt of the knife hoping it wouldn't fall out of his shaking hands. In one swift motion, he sliced Haggar in the face, just enough to get her to jump back and off in shock.

Lance wheezed, air rushing back into his lungs all at once. It was as if he had been held underwater and only just then broke through the surface. She hissed at him as she touched her face, yellow blood stained her fingers. He scrambled backward to his bayard and fired shot after shot where she stood, hoping to at least drive her off. Lance heard something resembling a growl and just like how she appeared, she disappeared. He didn't bother trying to figure out how she did it or where she went. Lance turned around to the newly freed prisoners.

"Go!" He grounded out to the group as if he was shooing a stray cat. And like a cat that had just been stepped on, they turned tail and ran. It didn't take much convincing after the brutal attack they just witnessed. Lance looked back to the once again empty hall. Something inside him knew there was something wrong with what just happened. In his gut, deep down he knew that if it were a real battle, Lance wouldn't be standing right now. He turned back and pain flared clearly telling him, _no, don't move._ He cursed, whatever she did to him was obviously still affecting him. He followed after them, limping.

Unbeknowst to the Paladin, Haggar watched from behind the corner as he pathetically stumbled away. Once he was became nothing more than a speck, she called her employer.

"It is done."


	2. "Buddy"

To say Lance looked like he was hit by a truck, would be an understatement. He looked like Hell itself had pulled him in, used him as a tennis ball to smack around, tenderize meat with him, sent him into a wood chipper and spat him out. His entire face was already bruised black, purple and yellow. His lip had been busted, and every time he opened his mouth he could taste the familiar bitterness of iron and copper. His shoulder hadn't completely stopped bleeding, and he could barely open his left eye- which was also leaking with blood, courtesy of the witch's nails. It was a miracle he could even direct them off the floating prison, nearly impossible to pilot his lion. All and all, Lance was just peachy.

Though, he was sure he gave his crew a heart attack when he fell out the mouth of his lion, bleeding out onto the floor of the hanger. The prisoners trickling in after him. His team rushed over to him, all of them sporting a new bruise here and there, but nothing as bad as him. As they fussed, Allura and Coran directed Lance's shipment of captives to the healing pods, but even they kept an eye on the Blue Paladin as they did so.

"It's worse than it looks guys," Lance shot weak finger guns at Keith. He attempted to smile, but that only ended in a hiss of pain. Pidge snorted.

"I suppose you just face planted onto the floor because that's what the cool kids are doing these days." Lance gave out a noise that sounded between a squawk and something offended. He tried sitting up, pulling on Keith's arm to support him. He opened his mouth to retort, but blood was rushing to his head and white spots danced at the corner of his vision. A dizzy spell fell over Lance and he went back down.

"That's it, move him to a pod." Shiro cut in, Coran nodding vigorously behind him. They all moved and shifted to ready to safely move the pilot of the Blue Lion, but was stopped by the Paladin himself.

"No," he said, pulling on Keith's arm to prove his point.

"Lance, we don't have time for this-"

"No," Lance insisted, "I'm not getting into a pod until all the prisoners have."

"That's ridiculous! We don't have enough pods for both you and the prisoners." Keith exclaimed with a small murmur of agreement behind him. He was right, Lance's freed captives themselves were enough to fill more than half of the healing pods they had.

The boy stubbornly stood by his words. It was clear that he wouldn't be changing his mind. This was what's right. That's what he should do. He twitched, an irritating itch on the back of his head. Really, he was better than those prisoners so it should be him getting treatment. After all, he did save their lives. They owe him.

Lance shook his head. While he actually did it to get rid of the annoying itch, the crew took it as an even more definite _no_ , but Lance didn't complain. If it got them off his case, he didn't care.

Aside from the obvious damage he took to his face, the Blue Paladin's lungs felt as if something had collapsed on them. There was no doubt it was his ribs being bruised from when the leader druid slammed him into the unforgiving ground. He thought back to the moment and laughed. It had kind of reminded him of the time he stole his little sister's fun sized Twix bar, and she vaulted down the street and tackled him into the grass. He hadn't realized that the team had moved him, or that he had spaced out, until he was propped up against a wall next to a newly freed alien.

Lance offered them a small wave and said out of courtesy, "Hey."

The four-fingered alien shrunk and curled away from him, distrust and anxiety coming off them in waves. Although he was slightly annoyed by their rudeness and avoidance of him, Lance then kept to himself. All of the former slaves were slightly on edge from being held captive for so long, still, it was very irritating.

Everyone that hadn't been able to be fitted a cryro-pod was being bandaged and cared for as best as they could by the remaining crew members. Each paladin had been trained in at least basic first-aid in case of field emergencies. Not to mention, the pods weren't meant for little scratches.Though, it wasn't much of a surprise when Keith went straight to his boyfriend with rolls of gauze in hand.

Keith tsked and reprimanded Lance for being so reckless as he dabbed disinfectants on the cuts. Usually for paper-cuts and other small miscellaneous injuries, Lance would whine and hiss. He would dramatically announce he can no longer train, and demand to be carried by Hunk all day. But as Keith worked Lance did nothing of the sort, instead he began joking to Keith's horror.

"Man, I get mortally wounded so many times, do you think I have to write a will? I mean, I have one written, but I don't know if it counts, because I only wrote about what I want them to do with my body. I was thinking having me be cremated and mixing my ashes with glitter. Then put me in one of those pop out glitter cards and mail it to my worst enemy. That way I can haunt their ass forever." Keith choked on his spit.

"You want to what?" Keith said in disbelief. He had nearly poked Lance in the eye, but quickly corrected himself before he did more damage to the boy.

His boyfriend let out a dramatic sigh as if repeating himself was just too much work. "I said, I want to be-"

"No, no," Keith cut him off, "I heard that, unfortunately. Why would you though?"

"Well it's that or my ashes get put in bullets, so even when I'm dead my enemies as eat my dust." Lance grinned, "and I'll go out with a bang."

The Red Paladin groaned, "what is it with everyone on this team wanting to die? Even Shiro did something like this when we were on that planet with lizards. Dinosaurs. Things."

Lance shrugged, hiding a wince as he did so. Keith wasn't exactly the best at first-aid. The bandages he wrapped around his torso and shoulder were too tight and he had even more trouble breathing. In contrast, the bandages on his face and neck were too loose and chafed against the wounds. After Lance had convinced his boyfriend he was fine, Keith left to work on another. He did linger around just a tad longer than he needed, but as soon as Lance was sure his significant other couldn't see, he undid most of it and redid it.

Sighing in content and peace, Lance relaxed and laid back, satisfied with his work. His breathing steadied, and although he might have a concussion and it was a terrible idea, he soon fell asleep. His eyes were drawn closed and pain washed away. The tense knots in his shoulders melted and dreams awoken.

Darkness seemed to swallow him. He didn't know where he was or what his name was. Who was he? What's going on? His surroundings were so void of color or light it was like a pitch black tar enveloped him. He stumbled around trying to find his footing to see if he could find a way out of this. Before he could even take more than five steps, he slipped and fell. The ground felt smooth and hard like marble. His head snapped at a faint and muffled sound. He strained to listen and hear. Maybe he could find a way out? He pushed himself up and crawled to it. The voice was no longer muffled and it became clear to him what it was. Sobbing. Screaming. As if a flipped had been switched, shrills and cries blasted and bounced around in his skull. He needed to get out. He needed to get out. He needed to get out. He needed to-

"-ance! Lance! Lance, wake up." A voice called to him. He pried his eyes open. Light poured in. It took a second for his eyes for adjust to the sudden brightness and for the figure to come into focus.

Hunk.

"Hey, buddy. You know better than to sleep when you have a head injury." Everything came back to him now. He was Lance, Paladin of Voltron. Defender of the Universe.

"You okay, man?" Hunk looked at him with genuine concern. Lance flashed him a smile.

"Never better man," he disregarded the tang of iron in his mouth. He most likely irritated his bust lip and opened it again, but Hunk wasn't so easily convinced.

Lance put his hand on Hunk's right shoulder.

"The Galra play a good game, but they can't get me, buddy." He patted his arm thrice.

Hunk relaxed and smiled at Lance, sitting down next to him. Lance listened intently as his friend filled him in on news. He spoke about what had happened when Lance was fighting Haggar. Then as if a light bulb lit up, Hunk excitedly told him about how he was looking at the castle schematics and figured out how to hook up the game Pidge and Lance bought. He babbled and Lance nodded along. Everything was peaceful and the darkness receded. Slowly, as if light willed it away, Lance forgot about his horrid nightmare.

...

Haggar examined her handiwork. It was smooth but with hard edges. She clicked them three times against each other. The dull thunks indicating they weren't hollow. Everything was even. Everything was perfect, just as it had to be. With a whip of her cape, she spun and walked with too much confidence for where she was and what she was about to do. The big automated door opened and she stepped in and kneeled. The only light source in the room was from a holographic screen too far for the witch to see. If not for the screen, the room would have been completely dark, not that either of them seemed to care. A large chair stood in the middle of the room, its back facing her. Whoever sat in it was tapping. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. 

"Your highness, I've completed my task. It was successful, for it is only a matter of time till he scums." The figure said nothing as they continued tapping. This went on for a minute, nothing but the sound of a fist pounding on the arm of a chair.

Then, "Let me see."

Haggar gracefully rose and made her way to the seat. She placed the matching set in the waiting hands.

"Once placed on the victim, they are under your command. They shall lose themselves and become trapped in the stone. Though my magic has already begun the process. While they are bound to you, it will be at the cost of a finger. As soon as either of you place it on, it does not come off. However, they will do your bidding, and should they try to betray you, death upon them. I didn't trust anyone but myself to do this and, of course, to keep it under the table as you said."

A collar and a ring. Both made of the same solid black ore. It was sleek and cool to the touch, almost like marble. The design was simple and there was no visible keyhole, for there was no need. The stone was a pitch black as if it was absorbing the little light in the room. The dim glow of the screen showcasing the bloodied Blue Paladin flickered and a dark shadow fell across the room. In his hands, it felt as if the ring was crackling with energy.

He tapped the collar thrice.

"Perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before anyone asks- when this is set? no idea. like i basically was like "yes, after season two" but also said "ignore season two" so kinda bear with me on this
> 
> can you guess the mystery person????
> 
> hint its lotor lmao
> 
> uhhhh thats all i have i think


	3. "Everything was Okay"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for such a short chapter im so ashamed since my chapters are usually 2,000-3,000 words long ahhhh also setting is the living roomy area they chill in sometimes

Until they could get him into a pod, the six of them had to rotate "Lance duty." Much like trading night shifts, they would swap out at times throughout the night to ensure Lance didn't nod off in the off chance of him not waking up. It was less of a duty and more just two friends enjoying each other's company. While the nights had been different for everyone, each moment they spent together was sacred and special.

...

Lance fluffed up his pillow before sinking into the soft and airy cushion. With his arms behind his head and eyes on Shiro, he watched and listened intently to the Black Paladin talk. To Shiro, it felt like he was just droning on and on about nothing and unimportant bits and bobs. He, of course, kept an eye on Lance to make sure he wasn't falling asleep or being bored to death, but whenever he checked up on him the boy was listening to every word that came out of his mouth as if Shiro spoke the word of God himself. Eventually, Shiro would rattle on and without even noticing he began to open up to Lance. In soft and steady words, he talked about his time at the Garrison, his family, how they were doing. Whatever came to mind soon came out his mouth. It was as if he wasn't used to the empty air since this was only the time the two of them had been alone like this, and Lance was usually the one running his mouth. The Blue Paladin smiled softly. Lance didn't mind, he didn't like the silence either.

"...and then Matt screamed at me in the middle of the sim, 'cabbages don't have feelings,' and I think it was that fact I didn't sleep for three days straight that made it so funny. Like, I laughed so hard I started crying. It wasn't even like wheezing crying, it was full on sobbing, snot, the whole waterworks. I couldn't stop until I had all but passed out. And that's the first time I crashed a sim."

"I-I can't- I can't breathe-" Lance cried. He put his hand up to his mouth to muffle the uncontrollable shriek he knew was coming. It ended up with Lance almost actually not being able to breathe because he was laughing too hard. Every time Lance thought it was over, he somehow broke into another fit just thinking about how hard he had laughed.

A smile tugged at Shiro's lips.

...

If you asked Lance who his favorite person in the Universe was, you would get an answer before your mouth even finished forming the word favorite. Hunk Garret. Yellow Paladin, engineer, and most importantly, Lance McClain's best friend since they could speak. Spending the night with Hunk was a blast from the past. Without the crazy space adventure, intergalactic war, or giant mechanically lions, they were free to spend their night like any other night on Earth. They plundered whatever room they could open and binged as many movies they found. They swaddled each other in layers and layers of blankets. Quick whispers and hushed giggles filled the room, almost being washed out by whatever alien drama they put on. Although it wasn't their go to "Feel Better" movie, Kung Fury, the time with their best friend was way better anyway.

After Hunk spilled some juicy gossip, Lance shrieked with laughter before slapping a hand over his mouth. They both froze for a second, listening for any sign of the angry stomping of a fellow crewmate trying to sleep. After a second of silence, excuse the TV playing some tense music as the actor looks deeply into the camera, they both bursted into soft laughter. 

"Oh- oh- oh, my God. I thought it was going to be like the time I laughed so hard I snorted milk, and then you started laughing, and your mom came downstairs to yell at us for being up at three in the morning." Hunk wheezed out in between his laughter.

"She was so mad! I thought that she was going to beat me to death with her slipper. And over milk too." Lance wiped a tear from his eye.

"Yeah, like there's no use _crying over spilt milk."_

"Unfollowed, deleted, blocked. Don't talk to me ever again."

...

The only sound in the room was Lance's voice as it talked about the time he snuck to his friend's house and they did each other's makeup which ended up with Lance sneaking back into his house with a full face of glam makeup. In between his words, you could hear the telltale sounds of Pidge clicking away on their laptop as they worked their coding. While Pidge appreciated Lance's story and how it was a nice background noise- Pidge was sure they had gone insane long ago after staying up for three days straight with only the clacking of their laptop as company- but whenever they had a particularly hard time figuring out a solution to their algorithm, they were thankful that he slowed to a stop on his story. It hadn't truly processed in their mind that Lance would stop talking whenever it looked like they were struggling until they had finished and thought they had missed nearly half of the story. They looked up and saw Lance pick up exactly where he left and they pushed their computer away.

Lance frowned, stopping his tale. "What are you doing?"

"I'm tired of staring at the same thing," Pidge shrugged. " Wanna play the game we got? Hunk found a way to hook us up!"

"Uh, yeah! Of course, I do." The Blue Paladin kicked off his blankets and rushed over to where the Green Paladin was setting up.

"I hope you're ready for this butt-kicking."

"There's no way I'm losing to someone that says, 'butt-kicking.'"

There was a way Lance would lose to someone that says butt-kicking. In fact, he did so multiple times. Soon the noises in the room were muffled laughter, groans, and whisper-yelling their victory brags. Eventually, the winner had fallen asleep after beating Lance for the umpteenth time, even falling asleep with the controller in hand. Lance snickered as he took pictures of his unconscious victim and made odd faces off to the side. He digitally drew whiskers and cat ears on the Green Paladin.

As he saved the photos and changed his lock screen, he grinned, "who really won here?"

...

When Keith's turn came around, Lance was sure his beautiful face would split in half from smiling so wide. Keith had smuggled in heaps of pillows and handmade board and card games. They played fake Uno and Monopoly, and by far, that had to be the worst test of their relationship. It was probably not a good idea on Keith's part to suggest games that tear apart marriages to two stubborn and hardheaded boyfriends. But Keith watched Lance roll the fake dice in adoration. How could someone look so perfect laying on a couch and sticking their tongue out in effort? Keith forgot about the game as he tried to memorize every detail of Lance's face.

"How could this happen to me? I made my mistakes..." Lance sang as he moved his game piece to makeshift jail.

"It's cause you suck," Keith hummed looking back at the poorly made board.

Lance scoffed, "you buy one property and you think you're the best."

"Actually, I win a game and I think I'm the best."

"It doesn't count because you cheated."

"Whatever you say, babe..."

The games had ended in throwing scrap cards and shoddy game pieces at each other and accusations of cheating whenever a winner was announced. Tales of betrayal were told when Lance placed down a plus four and color switch or when Keith threw down a skip turn. In an attempt to save their relationship, they raided Coran's music and Lance put on a nice playlist of slow music. While Keith had rolled his eyes and laughed, Lance only sashayed toward his boyfriend and wiggled his eyebrows.

"You're an idiot," Keith grinned when Lance stopped and put his arms around his waist.

"Yeah," Lance whispered back, "but I'm your idiot."

Keith put his arms around his neck. Whatever his reply was ended up being a hum in Lance's shirt. The games were forgotten and instead replaced with an easy sway they called dancing. Lance looked down at Keith. How could he be so lucky to have tricked this boy into loving him? And in the moment, everything was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before you ask about allura and coran this fic wasn't ever rlly about allura and coran and their reaction. yeah, theyre reactions and such to evil lance r a big deal bc they are main and important characters, but the purpose of this fic is basically each paladin is dedicated a chapter to deal with the darkness lance becomes and yeah, this is like the last time u guys get normal and nice lance before everything dies
> 
> lmao okay so like wrote this chapter a LONG ass time ago i just never posted it cause it felt incomplete and wrong but like since then i dont really like voltron as much as i did then (mostly cause of the long hiatuses and the shitty fandom) so i fell out and im into kpop now??? anyways im feeding yall cause im nice like that and since you guys waited so long ill post whatever i had even though its total shit cause if past me didn't like me character developed me probably hates me

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise motherfuckers-! I'm back with not only a new story but a new chapter to the color fic. *Wiggles eyebrows* Thinking about it now, I realize you probably don't know or don't care. Ehhhhhh. Anyways, this isn't even really a chapter. It's more like a prolog than anything. You can expect like,,, five??? chapters????? I dunno yet. Also, what do you guys think about adding Lotor to it? I mean, he's not _really_ relevant to the story, more like add spice to it.


End file.
